Holidays are the perfect time for holding events, because it is during these times that students just might be looking for that extra Jewish connection to home. Tu Bish’vat is a great opportunity to focus on environmental issues, perhaps with a social action project. For Purim, get everyone together for a costume party and read the Megillah, or hold an event making hamentaschen. You can do the same sort of things for Chanukah, making latkes, or you can travel from dorm to dorm each night lighting the menorah and playing dreidel. Passover is a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the community; you should ask local families to host students, or perhaps hold a Kesher Seder. Consider putting together packages containing seder plates and haggadot so that students can conduct their own seders. On some of the later nights of Passover, you might want to have a theme seder, such as a chocolate seder or a feminist seder to gather a new audience. George Washington University and Syracuse University have an annual multicultural freedom seder with other groups on campus. Short on funds? Apply for a grant!

Programming on these holidays can also be a great opportunity to join with the greater Jewish community on campus and celebrate together!  There is a great deal we can learn from one another and no better time to do it than during our simchas!

The High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which usually fall at the beginning of the school year, are a prime opportunity to capture a student’s future involvement.  Be sure to make a good first impression!  Introduce your group’s leaders as contact people, talk about your group in general, and discuss thoughts and ideas you have for the year.  If you can, have a schedule of the first few programs of the year ready to announce or even distribute flyers at services, so that you can encourage the group to come back and meet more people.  Remember to hold accurate expectations of the number of people you will have attending; if the High Holy Days fall on weekends, many more people will go home.

A great way to build your group’s database of members is to have a sign-in book for students when they enter the room for the High Holy Days.  Some Hillels may ask people to fill out an informational form in order to receive High Holy Day tickets.  Another approach, for those concerned about Jewish law, is to pass out postage-paid information cards, available from KESHER (kesher@uahc.org).

The service format for every school is different; some have separate Reform services, while others are combined.If the service is not entirely your own, it is okay to put a statement in at announcement time.  If your school does not currently have separate Reform services, students can lead them; a rabbi is not necessary.

No matter what kind of services you have, it always helps to have people participate.  You can give students a short English reading, an aliyah, or the blessing over the candles. For the High Holy Days, you can even ask if any of them know how to blow a shofar!  If there are students who wish to read Torah, make sure they have their parts far in advance and are well-prepared.  Make the students feel that this is “their” congregation, because it really is!

For major holidays, KESHER has song sheets available to you.  Please see Appendix 4 for some of them (these will be updated on the Web at www.keshernet.com).

Preparing for the High Holy Days

~ If you plan to have your services led completely by students, start preparing early. Make sure that you line someone up to blow the shofar, lead the music, and possibly play a musical instrument. You will need to begin learning all of the liturgy. You might want to invite Hillel professionals, professors, or community members to give sermons or help lead services.

~ If you would like to get someone outside of your group to lead services, ask a Hillel staff member if they can or if they have any suggestions as to whom you might call. You can also contact your local or regional UAHC office, call HUC-JIR for student rabbis (the numbers for all four campuses are located under "What to Do After College in the Jewish Community" in the appendix). You might even put an ad in the local Jewish community newspaper. All you need is someone who knows the High Holy Day liturgy; he or she can be a student, a faculty member, or any member of the general community. You may be surprised where people turn up.

~ If you have someone outside of your group lead services, someone like a musician or cantor, you should be prepared to pay them. Funding for the High Holy Days can come from a variety of sources including Hillel, home and nearby congregations, Jewish federations, rabbis, and HUC-JIR. Put together a detailed budget listing all of your expenses, including prayer books, photocopying inserts to supplement the prayer books, and food for an oneg or Kiddush. Then write a letter explaining your situation — whether you are at a school with no Hillel, at one that does not provide Reform services, or one where the service is entirely student-led. Mail it to your list of contact people, and follow up the letter with telephone calls to ask if they have any additional questions. It is always nice to invite these people to come to your services, but, more important, remember to write thank you notes! If you begin early, in the spring, you have much more time to ensure that you get complete funding.

~ Where are your services going to be held? Is there a room at Hillel that you can use? What about the student center? When looking at rooms, think about the setup, and remember to request chairs, a table, and a podium if you need one. It is important that you have an idea of the number of people who are going to come to services, so that you can obtain a room large enough to accommodate everyone. Again, if the holidays fall on a weekend, more people will go home. This will also happen if a majority of your campus population lives in close proximity to their homes. However, community members, faculty, and their families might come to services as well.

~ There are several options for machzorim (High Holy Day prayer books) that you, as a community, can choose to use. The first is On Wings of Awe which was written by Rabbi Richard Levy of the Reform Movement and published by Hillel. You can also choose to use Gates of Repentance, the Reform Movement’s machzor. You can find outlines of the services from both machzorim included in Appendix 5. Published by the CCAR, Gates of Repentance prayer books are available to students at half price (contact the CCAR at 212-972-3636). Use the machzor that best fits your community’s needs. Finding prayer books can be a very difficult task if your Hillel does not provide them. You can ask local synagogues for extras, but you may have trouble because they are often hard to come by.

~ Finding a Torah can also be difficult. Ask Hillel if you can borrow one, and if not, approach area synagogues to see if they have one you can use. This is one time when it may help to have personal connections in the community, so don’t be afraid to ask for help. Start looking early!

~ Another way to build a communal atmosphere is to have a meal before or after services, either at Hillel or at someone’s home (you might want to ask several people if they will host). If neither place is available, consider going out to a restaurant and inviting people to join you. Depending on the size of your individual community, it might be difficult to have an entire meal for everyone. After Rosh Hashanah services, have wine, apples, and honey for everyone. Similarly, on Yom Kippur, break the fast together with challah and wine and a full dinner if possible. This will both serve to make your community feel more like a family and help sustain the holiness of the day. Bringing people together immediately after services also gives them an opportunity to socialize and meet one another. These interactions are essential to building a stronger community and chavurah.

~Check the KESHER website for programmatic ideas. As part of KESHER's High Holy Day Initiative, we hope to publish activities and resources for each Kesher Chavurah to experience. These materials can be found at www.keshernet.com.